Sundeala could be described as one of the more unusual suppliers to the timber trade. And that could be described as an understatement.
The company’s principal activity is making pinboard out of resin-bonded cellulose fibre. It’s been doing this virtually continuously since 1898 and more or less the same way too, although the machinery has changed and the raw material is now old newspapers rather than virgin wood pulp.
After a century in its original plant in Sunbury-on-Thames, Sundeala last year moved to a former shoe board mill at Dursley in the Cotswolds. Part of the building is 200 years old and even has its own millrace, complete with trout, which, allegedly, become the occasional lunch for at least one of the workforce.
So how, the first-time visitor to Sundeala might ask, does this distinctive business actually fit into the timber trade? Its answer is very neatly indeed.
Building product
A proportion of Sundeala’s output is made into individual pinboards, but most is classified by the company as ‘building product’. It’s sold in 8×4 sheets and targeted firmly at the architect and specifier as a fitting out essential for schools, hospitals, offices, leisure centres and a whole range of other construction and refurb projects. Consequently the material sits comfortably alongside timber panel products and mouldings, so Sundeala’s natural sales channel is the timber and sheet materials merchant and distributor (and stockists include some of the biggest names in the business).
“Architects, interior designers and other specifiers select our pinboard at the same time as they specify the skirting, architraves and other fixtures and fittings,” said marketing manager Graham Osborne. “In fact they specify ‘Sundeala’ by name – it really is an industry generic.”
Timber trade bond
According to general sales manager Martin Allen, the bond with the timber trade runs deeper still. “We’re all selling a natural, cellulose-based material,” he said.
Sundeala board may not be as hi-tech as some of the sheet materials it shares warehouses with, but, after 104 years, it continues to sell strongly because, according to the company, it remains one of the best materials for its purpose. It’s light, easy to cut and sand, you can screenprint it – and, most importantly, it’s “pinnable”.
“It’s simple really,” said Mr Allen. “It’s easy to push pins into and take them out and you can keep putting the pin in the same place time after time, without the board falling to bits like softboard would. To prove its durability we recently ran a competition to find the oldest board. We discovered one just being replaced by the University of Surrey which was put up in 1965; another at Oxford University dates back even further.”
While it’s always been among the foremost products in its field, the Sundeala story has not all been plain sailing. It went into receivership in the early 90s and was bought and revived by Celotex Ltd (manufacturer of rigid thermal insulation), but then ran into problems at its old site. Because Heathrow Airport is just down the road, wage rates in the area were high and attracting new workers a battle. The old plant also struggled to meet new emission regulations.
Dursley site
Today, however, Sundeala is in good spirits. Part of the reason for the upbeat mood is the move to Dursley. Sundeala heard the site was being put on the market just as it was facing yet more bills for emission controls at its old factory. It really was the right place at the right time, even more so since shoe board is also a cellulose-based product and the manufacturing process is virtually identical to that of Sundeala board. This meant that Sundeala could leave some of the machinery in place on the 11-acre Dursley site and effectively bolt in the extra bits it needed from Sunbury-on-Thames.
Sundeala was also able to take on people from the shoeboard business, including its now plant manager John Timpany.
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“To prove its durability we recently ran a competition to find the oldest board. We discovered one just being replaced by the University of Surrey which was put up in 1965” |
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Martin Allen, general sales manager |
The factory is even more of a plus because the size, the layout and its huge multi-storey drying oven have made the production process hugely more efficient.
“Previously we had to manhandle the board eight or nine times from the initial press, in and out of drying ovens, then on to sawing and sanding,” said managing director Geoff Steer. “This meant we needed a lot of people and a lot of board was damaged in handling. Now it is conveyored automatically from the press through the dryer and then onto the circular saw without any manual intervention. We have fewer rejects and a workforce of 18 process workers as opposed to 35.”
The new site also provides more and better storage, including room for Sundeala’s other product Flexcell, a bituminised cellulose expansion joint filler.
New equipment
The company also took advantage of the move and the money it made from the sale of its Sunbury site, to invest over £1m in new equipment. This includes a pallet turner, Dust Control Systems dust extractor, Boere sander, Kikukawa circular saw and, most significantly, a £250,000 Talbott’s waste burning, heat and steam generating system. The latter has simultaneously slashed fuel bills and mounting landfill costs.
“The Talbott’s system is generating about a third of our energy needs and leaves us with just the waste from our fire resistant range to send to landfill,” said Mr Timpany. “It’s saving us roughly £10,000 per month.”
Sundeala’s growing confidence is also down to its conviction that, thanks to growing eco-awareness, its product is becoming more marketable. It bills its pinboard as 98% recycled and uses all-natural resins and dyes.
“Environmental issues are becoming more important with specifiers, retailers and consumers so we’re actively making it part of our marketing strategy,” said Mr Osborne. “Traditionally we’ve sold our boards on the fact that they’re pinnable. In our latest campaign we’re saying they’re rubbish!”
Sundeala is capitalising on rising demand and the increased flexibility and efficiency of its new factory to diversify its product range. Most of its output is in neutral grey, but it is also stepping up production of its coloured ranges in blue, green, charcoal and red, which it is promoting as the means to create multi-coloured ‘designer’ noticeboards. And it sees further potential in bespoke products.
Sundeala plans to beef up its business in ready-made noticeboards too. These are made in plain board, or fabric-covered and can be supplied with aluminium or wood frames, for which the company has just installed a Brevetti mitre saw, helping double capacity.
Unusual uses
Sundeala sees possibilities for more unusual and esoteric uses for its product as well. As the corporate history shows, in the early days the board cropped up in a weird and wonderful range of applications. It was used as panelling in the Queen Mary liner and the Royal Train, to make Nissen huts and even found its way into the temporary robing chamber bolted onto Westminster Abbey for George VI’s coronation.
While it clearly expects pinboard to remain its core business, Sundeala is also looking to tap into this heritage and diversify its market place.
“We see more potential for Sundeala board in construction, as an acoustic insulator for instance,” said Mr Allen. “And there are many other possibilities. Currently, for example, designer Nosel Hamani is using it to make furniture.”
The prize for the most headline-grabbing application of Sundeala board, though, must go to another designer, Andrew Vaccari. He’s using it to make biodegradable coffins so the environmentally-concerned can exit in eco-friendly style. Clearly Sundeala is not going to lose its tag as one of the timber trade’s more unusual suppliers any time soon.
